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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Recipe of the month: Æbleskivers

Æbleskivers are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, Æbleskivers are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. They were traditionally cooked with bits of apple (æble) or applesauce inside but these ingredients are rarely included in modern Danish forms of the dish. Æbleskivers are not sweet themselves but are traditionally served sprinkled with powdered sugar and dipped in raspberry, strawberry, lingonberry or blackberry jam. BTW, all this information I've been rattling off like an annoying know-it-all is what I gathered from Wikipedia.....I am by no means an authority on Æbleskivers **grins sheepishly**

I first heard of Æbleskivers a few months ago on the television segment "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network. I was not paying much attention to the telly but when I heard this strange word, I cocked my head and went "Huh? Evil-...... wazzat now??" I saw celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez describing these sweet little Danish pancakes (which looked delicious by the way) and I was startled to see that the cast iron indented pan you use to make it looked very similar to a pan I had with me at home.

My pan (a nonstick one) is used to make a South-Indian breakfast item called Guliappa which I've posted previously so, I immediately thought that this was something I should try in the future. I find having pancakes for breakfast quite filling but these little Danish pancakes are perfect for a little sweet craving at the end of a meal.

I found several variations in the recipe. Some mentioned separating the eggs and beating the egg whites to stiff peaks, some of them used buttermilk in the recipe, some didn't have any filling in them, some had bananas in them and some had the traditional apple filling. I stripped down my recipe to a bare minimum and thought I would do a banana filling since I had some bananas lying around at home.

This simplified version might not be the traditional way of making them but trust me when I say they are really easy to make and yummy too!

Plain flour and all-purpose flour differ in their gluten content. For this recipe you could use either. In most cases, all-purpose flour can be substituted with plain flour but vice versa may not always give you the desired results. I guess in the US, all-purpose flour is what is most commonly used.

yeah and i had never heard of plain flour so il look for it if not then go ahead with all purpose and let you know how it turned out..:) thanks for the prompt reply..i was planning to do it in the evening

Hello my name is Jytte and I am Danish, job well done about the æbleskiver, one time of the year we eat them for sure is at our Glogg Parties for Christmas(spiced warm Red Wine) with raisens and Almond slivers, plus cinnamon stick and cloves cook for 1/2 hrs. in water, and sugar to taste. Delish.........